


The Curious Despairings of a Girl Who Should Really Know Better

by tunnels



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Grimdark, Multi, reflective as fuck because i am a gigantic nerd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2017-12-07 05:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/744992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tunnels/pseuds/tunnels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving into a new apartment, Rose is faced by an old woman with strange pink eyes and a habit of smiling and having too much to drink, the remains of some strange, futuristic technology, and a gaping hole in her own head, and somehow an overly formal, vaguely vampiric girl manages to get into it as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An apartment

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still figuring out this whole thing, so I'll probably add more tags and such when I've done so.

Rose stood by the entrance of the building. It was tall and dark and stuccoed in a way that reminded her of the old buildings in the towns around her own home; an ancient building that was home to an abundance of people. It was here that she hoped she might spend at least a while, knwing the less-than perfect reputation of her own, she knew that her stay might be brutally cut short like the many others that she had encountered. It was without hesitation, then, that Rose smiled at the older woman who answered the door. She recognized her as the woman who claimed to own the building. Just checking it out for problems, she said, and I'm sure there won't be any, of course. To the owner it was oh, just fine, you may as well see the place before you make such a big move anyway.

If it's alright if I quickly step in, then? Oh, but of course. The flat's this way.

Their footsteps could be heard throughout the building in its endlessly creaking skeleton. Rose began to wonder if the building was, in fact, alive. Her cloying suspicion was not helped by the fact that there was some serious midew under the sink, as well as a mysterious growth that had taken up residence in the bathroom. Being the at least semi-polite young girl she was, Rose did not point this out to the tottering woman as she seemed at least to be trying. It was, after all, better than many of the places that she had stayed at in the past; it even had a tiny living room attached to the dining room. 

After the rest of the inspection of the flat had been done through, Rose gave the old woman a patronizing smile. It was only then that she could see the worn-out crows' feet that framed the woman's twinkling pink eyes. 


	2. packages

It took Rose maybe a week to get herself at least somewhat established in the new flat. She could hear the neighbors through the walls, perhaps, and the bathroom left a little to be desired, but unlike any of her previous places the house glowed at night and the voices in the hall were friendly and soft. The flat itself was located on the middle floor of a triple-decker which was situated close enough to downtown to be easily available but far enough away so that the swarming tide of rush hour didn't hit hard enough to be a bother. The streets around it were populated by buildings of about the same description: three floor, vaguely-colonial style buildings with flat roofs and colorful wooden siding. The center of the neighborhood was maybe two blocks east; in it were a bakery, several convenience stores, two barbershops, and an array of places to eat ranging from the local coffee house to a number of home-style ethnic restaurants. These were occupied mostly by a mix of locals, shiftless young adults such as Rose herself, and families of visiting academics or other wandering professionals.

She hadn't grown up in this city. She had, however, grown up in a multitude of others, and was vaguely familiar with the process of learning yet another set of rules and timetables and body language. At this, she remembered, the landlady had chuckled as she recounted her background over a hot cup of coffee on the landlady's couch on the third floor. The landlady's laugh had been long and genuine, and her totter something to be remarked upon (it was as if she would fall over at any moment, but managed to keep herself from it by only a few inches). It was only the next day that Rose had found out that what the landlady had been drinking was not exactly coffee.

But that was two weeks ago, and Rose was beginning to feel a gnawing sensation in her stomach that was decidedly today. She unfurled her legs from underneath her, putting down the book which she had long ago forgotten in reverie. She stretched herself off the couch and headed towards the kitchen to scrounge the fridge for some lunch. On the way back, hands full of some sort of sandwich which only barely seemed edible at first, Rose caught sight of a brown cardboard box by the door to the stairs. She figured that there was most likely something imprtant in it that she hadn't yet unpacked, so she dragged it over to the couch to have a look at it while she ate. 

Inside was a heap of metal that glowed faintly blue. There were many smaller, cylindrical bits with a thin indigo trim, as well as several longer sheets of interwoven steel with the same trim. One of the larger pieces, which looked suspiciously close to a breatplate, was marked with an Aries symbol. Curious, Rose brushed her thumb over it. After a moment it flickered on, some mechanism triggered.

As if drawing a deep breath, the bands and chunks of metal wound together to form a figure. It stood about a head above Rose, with broad shoulders and a strong build that was nevertheless marked by curves and a certain litheness associated with femininity. Its long mane of hair adorned with a pair of fiery eyes and curled horns, it was an impressive thing. Rose took a step back, eyes wide.

The robot hung in the air for what seemed like centuries, held aloft by some sort of momentary swell of life. 

Then, with an ear-popping clatter, it fell to the ground, again an empty shell. Rose, head still racing to catch up with what had just happened, stood by the fallen mechanical creature in silence. The white walls stood with her, stained by dust and daylight for however long it took for Rose to finally reach down and begin to work on moving the mountain of metal before her. 

\---

The following days echoed in Rose's ears. The light of the falling autumn seemed to drain her mind like water to a chalkboard, no sound quite penetrating its intensely thick silence. She was suddenly unused to crowds. When words were needed, they halted and stuttered before coming out in some vague semblance of a faked sentiment.

It wasn't that Rose hadn't seen astonishing things before, or that somehow something unexpected could throw her off in an instant; her family growing up had the unfortunate quality of not quite understanding the concept of consistency. What made Rose's mouth dry in those surreal few days, however, was the hugeness of those moments before. Rose's life had been varied, sure, but it was always along the vaguely predictable and almost comical incompetence of her parents. This, though, this thing, it swept away anything she had ever known; some sort of urgency far too great for the tiny skirmishes and wants of herself, a power that outscaled any of the events in Rose's life made trivial by it. 

Eventually, the mind-boggling shell in Rose's brain began to disintegrate. The days matched up again, the clock struck in order, and the rhythm of life danced back in the way that it inevitably did for her. With it, came innumerable questions. What is this thing? Where could it have come from? Is it human, alien, neither? Why would it be here? Questions with impossible answers, questions with probably no answer at all, questions about those questions all buzzed as if in vengeance for their time away. It was soon that Rose decided to call some old high school and college friends, people that she knew would be hanging around somewhere close and were sharp enough to ask the right questions. It was not, however, before the landlady gave her a wink on the way down from the third floor. 


	3. something gets settled, and loose ends get tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose gets her shit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the shortness, been a bit busy. there'll be more, though.

It was almost as if everyone had been laying in wait for an opportunity to come back together again; the old crowd was crammed into the space of a coffee shop table again as if no time at all had passed. Sollux, now a successful computer scientist, still had his sharp tongue but in a mellower tone; Jade the nuclear engineer was equally bright-eyed and quick as she had been, and Terezi's harsh cackling was back in full force now with the added cynicism of a newly practicing high-level criminal lawyer. 

Between cheap shots and playful jokes, the friends managed to exchnage comments and information and eventually agreeing to keep close contact. No longer would emails lay unregarded in the back of the inbox, and calls would take priority; each would know where the others could be found and when to call, and that was enough for the time being. The recently found robot became nothing more than an obscure little happening as obscene jokes turned into conversation that extended into the far reaches of man's knowledge, raucous laughter turning into subdued conversation and rolling back again. For a few hours, the world disintigrated and all that existed was the warm, comfortable table where the universe lay. 

\---

While the unfinished business of the world at large took itself into Rose's warm hands and sore cheeks, it became more and more apparent that her apartment couldn't remain empty for long; while it  wasn't expensive, it wasn't cheap, either, and having someone help out there would be the only way around it without sacrificing the little spare time she had to make up the difference. In the new light that every one of her friends had comfortable living arrangements already, ads were soon up and listings were made. The posters hung a little crooked, and there was a typo in the second line, but all in all could've been worse.

The rest of Rose's week was filled with the tediums of adulthood like these. Taxes, cleaning, spider-annihilation, all dominated her time in an endless spiral of things disgustingly complicated and only extremely necessary. A few people had called in about the apartment, but none of them seemed either sober or legitimate enough to give another thought. It was a long, gray week that while annoying never ceased to be amusing; every instance was like some sort of satire of the actual life of actual people and never quite hit Rose as something that had actually happened. 

In line with the farse that was life, Rose received a call at three in the morning inquiring about the apartment. 

"Hello, I'd like to ask about the room on Marbury Street. I apologize for calling so late, but it's urgent."

The caller's voice was in turn shaking and overconfident, and was low and smooth even when it cracked and shook.

Rose's legs shook a little as she pulled them down to the floor.

"I-- sorrry? The apartment? Yeah, it's still open. Rent's still what it says."

"That sounds good. Would it be possible to come and check it out in the morning, at eight or so? I'm not able to come any later, as I'm in a bit of a situation."

"Sure, sure. See you then."

She wondered why her phone was in her bed the next morning.

 


End file.
